Weighing apparatus.



A. BRADFORD;

WEIGHING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a, 1908.

Patented June 15, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVEN'TD R w W A.BRADFORD.

WEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1908.

925,282. Patented June 15, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVEAN'T'UR WITNEIEEEE: I wwflag 0% EIY -1-- -v.

A.BRADFORD. WEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1908.

Patented June 15, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHE 3.

WI TN E5 5 E5 A. BRADFORD.

WEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1908.

Patented June 15,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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WWZZW 1% 661i ALLEN BRADFORD, o'F' KENNET, CALIFORNIA.

wnzemn'e .a'esiiinei us.

Nd. 925,282. Specification of Lettersfateht. Petented June-1.5, 1909.

' Application niedA zi1-2s,19os,- Serial No. 428,709.

To all whom it may. concern.- ch'eulic'eylinders filled with a'suiteble fluid 1 Be it knownthct I, ALLE BRADFORD, citi-= end provided with pistons, which support e- I zen-of theUnitedSt-ates, residing at Kennet, frame-upon which the body of thecar rests in the county of Shasta-end State of (Deliduring the weighing process, and supplied fornie, haveinvented certain'new-anduseful with communicating pipes, subsidiary is Improvements in Weighing Apparatus; of. tons connected therewith and centre ing..;i' which the following, is e specification. an indicating device, proi ision'being made Myinvention relates. to weighing. apperafor equalizing any unevenness-in the distri" tus and has particular reference to appliances bution of the loud and forrestoring to the designed to beused in connection withdunip general. circulation any loss ofthe operative cars of the type in',wl1 ich the cerbody is so fluidfrom leakng'e.-

arranged as to' belrjocked or rolled to eitherp I have shownthe details ofthe above (l6:- side in order to discharge the contents. The scribed apparatus in the following views; weighing cersof'this class witlrwhich I am Figured is a side 'elevation ol a dumping To fe niliar have heretofore employed more or cersupplied with my improved hydraulic less complicated arrangements of compound weighing. apparatus ,r Fig. 2 is an endelev'a levers,. employing i'ulcrums formed :withtion;, Fig-c3 is a. top lan view of the sup wedge shaped contacts afterthe' manner of porting remework; igs. Land-5 are a top stntionerysceies. While suchsharp-edged .plan View and an endelevation, respec supports. are adapted to fulfil the, requiretively, of the floetingf-reme; Fig. 6 is a per ments in stetioncry or;platform scales,flthe. spective view of one of the center blocksconcussions and jolts toiwhich dumping "cars. sup orting the rocker track; Fig. 7 is a verare at all times subject-renders weighing ap 'tica section of on'e'of the main cylinders and peretus constructed .on this principle liable ellie structures;- Fig. 8 is a perspective view to injury and theexpedients which hevebeen. of one of the corner. blocks for supporting introduced torender the devices immobile end of rockertreck; Fig.9 is a vertical londuring the car travel have soferfallenshort .gitudinal section of the indicating device';,-h of the requirements. r F ig'. 1.0 is 3 front elevation of the indicator I It is the purpose of the improvements-dial and upper portion of .thecasin the I which form the subject metterof this epplie. cover of the manhole being removed; i 11 cation. to provide e Weighing apparatus that is isto plan view of the upper end oi 'th'e will free from the disadvantages and de-- guide ol'ock'stem, the cordand tape being; fects inherent in the mechanical movements. removed from their attachments; Figs; 12 I heretofore en-iployed; to furnish unep hence end 13 are sectional" views, enlarged, takenfor the: stated purpose from which all coin-i on the lines 1212 end 1313,.respectively, pound and jointed levers will be eliminated of Fig.9; Fig. 14 ise section'olview on the and infwhich there will be no sharp edged. line 14-71401- Fig. 12 Fig. 15 is a sectional bearings, and as a. consequence the weer will .view on the line15.-15 of Fi 13-; Fig. 16 he so much reduced as to become enegligible; is a horizontal. section e arged, taken I quantity, and to produce a device that will be through the dial. case, the .'cutting plane sensitivecnd accurate in operation. pessing'throu h the. spindle axis; and Fig. i or in,th e appliance.hereinefter described ,L 1718.8..VfiIti0a section of the oil pump. have discarded the coinpliccted mechanical -Referring, to the details of.- the drawings, contrivences of levers, lmit'e-cdged bearings, the. numeral 20 .indicetes the side-members sliding weights and graduated beams, cndiiu and 21- the end dpieces of anreetengularcar .2 their steadheveintroducedesystem depend: frame, su ports by gournelfboxesZZ upon ing upon hydraulic principles, thereby pro-. :a-Xles 23 eving flanged track wheels: 24 at ducing c si-1nple,- durable, and profoundly theirouter. ends. Thesnidmembersof the cliicient instrument eohnimbly suited towthe csr., fremeere securely oined together byfllofi purposes of port-able weigliinge peretus. -gholts, the struct urejjbeing-Irenderedespw in thst form of thedevioe ustreted cielly rigid bytheintroductionof.longitudi' theacoompenying drawings inwhieh is def tiehclts @25;8Xt911di7gi eHtheIythrOu h veloped the preferredenibodimentof myi the. frezhe fromyendiitotendx.As en ed iv ntion, applied to e dumping oer, .1 have gtionelnstrengthening feature internal-comes. designed a weighing device, which deserihedr ,hreces ere mtroducedht eachend end in a generel Way, consists-pf esystem. cf.hy- ;cross tie 2 7 comnietes whetmay beproperlgs" termed the truck, or foundation frame. Upon each corner of the foundation frame is securely bolted a rectangular block having a vertical body 28, provided with horizontal flan'es 29, having holes for the securing b0 ts. Upon each of the end pieces 21 of the said truck frame, in the median line of the structure rests a rectangular center block 31,.having a foot plate or flange 32 projecting at the outer side, in which are olt holes 33. The inner corners of the blocks 31 are formed with recesses or notches 45, to facilitate the introductidnof the securing bolts, holes 46 being provided in the lower walls of the recesses for said bolts. The said corner blocks 28 are connected at each end of the'frame by hollow girders iffirmed ofside plates 47, boltedalong their ,ffupper marginsto the edges of track-plates -48 'the latter being se arated by an interval z'ai'tthe median line. hese girders are firmly f'bol'ted to the center blocks 31 as well as to the corner blocks 28 and form rigid struc- ;ltures for supporting the car body 49 which Iprefer to construct in the usual form prevalent in dumping cars, with slo ing sides and rounded bottom, as shown in and dotted lines in the end elevation; Fig. 2. At each end of the body is bolted a semicircular flan e or rocker 50, which rests u on the two plates 48 whenever the b0 y 49 is tilted in either direction. In order tokeep I the said rocker and track in proper alinement the track-plates are provided with spaced conical. bosses or teeth 51, which engage.,c,orresponding holes 52 formed in the tread'Eofthe rockers whenever the latter are rolled there tlipon.

"Aboutmi I 31f;andathegcorner blocks, upon each end piece .2 1' ="of the truck frame are located hydraulieeylinders 53. There are thus four of thesecylinders, each having a base plate 54 (Fig. 7) by means of which the device is firmly bolted to the end piece 21 of the truck frame. Each cylinder is provided with a iston or plunger 55, in the form of a cy lindrical block, and is furnished with a stuffing box 56, the packing material 58 being secured by a gland 59. The upper end of the plunger is furnished with a conical recess 60 to receive the lower end of a fulcrum post 61. The ends 62 of the posts are made conical and the upper end of each post is received in a coniqal depression 63 in the under- 60 these rest the extremities of the end members 66, also madeofI-beams and the memhers thus assembled at different levels are firmly bolted together by means of angle irons 67, placed vertically atthe corners of the frame, the flanges of the I-beams being way between the center blocks cut away wherenecessary to accommodate them. middle points fixed rectangular center lates The end' beams 66 carry at their 68, from the center of which rises a ug or plates 64 being so located that their centers correspond with thevertical axes of the cylinders 53, and when'so assembled the end members 66 are loosely housed within the hollow girders, between the plates 47, the

plates 68 occupying the interval between the I inner ends of the track-plates 48, thus filling the ga and forming a complete track from one si e of the car to the other.

When the car body 49 is in its vertical position, as shown. in Fig. 2, it is seen to rest entirely upon the center plates 68, and as these plates are carried ,uponthe floating frame, the said body and its contents will be supported entirely by the cylindrical plungers 55, through the medium of the structures just described, and the said body is retained in its vertical position by means of a bail 70, pivoted at 7 1 to ears 72 attached to the floating frame at one end of the car, and adapted to be passed over the rocker 50. The floating frame when elevated upon the four fulcrum posts 61 is held from lateral deviation in either direction by elongated loops or links 73, 74, which are located upon the sides and ends, respectively, of the said frame. bearings 01 bosses 75 attached to the" corner blocks 28 and thence extend in a horizontal The links 73-pass around circular direction parallel with the side members 65 of the floating frame to a point near the median transverse line of the car, where they engage hooks 76, formed in the ends of anchor plates 77, bolted or riveted to the flange of the I-beam 65. The links or 100 s 74, located upon the ends of the frame are odge'd at their outer extremities in notches 78 formed in the corner blocks 28, and held in lace by pins or lugs 79 which enter holes 80 In the said blocks. The inner ends of the said links are looped over lugs 81 which pass through the web of the Lbeams 66, near the median line of the frame. As the links thus described are not fixed to their lugs or books, the vertical movements of the said floating frame are not in the least, hampered, the total movement of the frame being so slight that the friction of the loop hearings will be inappreciable.

Each of the four hydraulic cylinders .53 is separately connected by a pipe 82 with an indicating device, the construction being as follows :A tubular casing, composed of two sections 83, 84, connected by a union, is arranged vertically at one end of the car frames Ihe junction is formed b flanged collars 85',

86, each having a threa ed connection with its respective sectlon, and held firmly to- .struction in the the other.

aving an opening of the-pipes leading from the hydraulic cylinor more of the pistons 93,

liner by bolts 87 passing through the ,nges of the collars. Between said collars clamped the horizontal arm of a-bracket' SS bolted to the car frame, and serving as a suport' for the indicator casing, the said arm 89 corresponding with the bore' of the casing, thus avoiding any ob passage froi'none section to The lower end of the casing section 83 has a threaded connection with the upper end of a cylinder '90, provided with four longitudinal bores. 91, extending entirely 1 through the-member. The said cylinder is supported in a clamping ring 92 bolted to the car frame, and atits lower end the cylinder body is' expanded to admitof the attachin-n i deis 53 each of said cylinders thus having a distinct and separate communication with. one of the bores 91 of the compound cylinder 90. Within these bores are located pistons 93,"closely fitting the cylinder bores and pro ..ject-ing through stuffing boxes 95 (Fig. 14) the packing being guarded by glands 96, thus permitting the boxes to be packed separately. All four of the pistons 93 have threaded connection with a guide block 97 slidably' arranged in the bore of the casing so that, they'move in unison. This simultane- 'ous-mo vement ol' the pistons insures an even depression of all the main plungers whenever the load is increased, although the weight of the load ma" be greater at one end of the car body than the other.' lYat-er may be used in .';tlie hydraulic system thus described for transmitting the motion of the larger to t e smaller pistons; but i'or v ,rious reasons oil or an analogous liquid is to be preferred, particularly because of its non fr eezing character. In case there should be a leakage of oil. at one the movements of the corresponding plui'igers would al fected, and they would stand a-t different levels..: Itis necessary to correct this liability of .the'plungrs tobecome uneven, and is accomplished by means of an automatic device as follows :The central. division wall separatingth'ebores 91 is removed near the lower end- ,oftthe cylinder; forming a coin n n passage or 98 (Fig. 15) communicating with allthe said-bores. This port normally closed by a valy-e 99 held against its seat by a spring. 100. The lower a threaded pipe junction102. The plate 101 has a central aperture to guide the stem of the valve 99 and a decentered opening 103. The valve 0 is furnished with an operating finger 104 which projectsinto path of one of the pistons 93, and when the latter de the valve to c I permitting the linger to movesi liicientiy, and the oil will p ass ireely through sa d port to re store the equilibrium; The said guide block end or the cylinder 90 is counter-- bored to receive a plate 101, held'in place by scends: it will engage the finger and depress en the port 98, a'slot 10o end slidably supported in a bracket 111 at tached to said casing and its lower endi112 threaded and passing through the flange 85, where it is held against upward movementb a nut 113. An arm 114 projects laterally tl ough a vertical slot 115 in the casing is engaged by the lower end of the spring 107. Upon the'upper end of the tubular casing 84 is mounted a circular case 116 in which isjournaled a spindle 117 carrying an index or pointer 118 which travels over a face or dial 119 supplied with 'gr'aduations 120 numbered from 0 to 1000. A cord 121 attached by one end to the pipe 106 at 122, is wound a few turns about the 'fsaid, spindle and then brought down to the-starting point and fastened to a weight 123, hung within the'cavity of the said tube;

108 is fixed a light rod 124 to afford a fastening'for one end of a tape 125, which is then carried upward and over a drum 126 j'ournaled near the topof the casing, the end being brought downitd be attached to a weight 127 similar to theo'ne for the cord 1121. Upon the. outer face of'the tape 125 are affixed numerals 128"1ranging from 0 to 4 or more, according to the capacity of the apparatus. As the p stons 93 move upward with each increase of the load,

and

1 Upon the side of said 001-" lar opposite to the hook in the car body, the weights 123 and 127 will i move downward together; maintaining proper tension upon bothcord and tape, and compensating for any variations in length due to unequal stretching.

Any oil which may leak past the pistons. 03 andjaccuinulate above the cylinder 90 is';.re-

stored to the general system by means of an automatic pump which will now be de scribed. The cavity of the casing S3 tapped by a drainage pipe 129 through which the oil may pass by gravity to a pump cvlinder 130, constructed witlia threaded base I 131, which isadapted to be received in a threaded aperture 132 formed in the foot 'flan ge of the center block 31 at the indicator.

end of the car. The said cylinder'is provided with a hollow piston 133 open at both ends and flaring below to furnish aconical valve seat134, for a ball valve 135, made of cork or other suitable material lighter than the liquid 186'used in the system, and upon which'the valve is represented as floating .(Fig. 17). 'A piston rod 137 attached to the piston- 133.- is hollow throughout its-lower portion and at some point is furnished With a vent 138 which permits the free exit'of the confined air during the descent of the rod and piston, no movement of the oil 136. taking place until the latter has accumulated in suflicient quantity to raise the floating valve high enough to meet the piston asit descends and close the opening therein. Any further n'rovenient of the piston will then drive the accumulatr-t-d oil through a pipe 139, which leads from the cylinder 130 to the chamber 140 in the lower end of the cylinder 90, a check valve 141 preventing any back flow of oil. The oil when forced beyond the check valve will pass through the opening 103 and the slot 105 into that bore with which said slot, connects, being equally distributed by the opening of the valve 99 when the pistons next descend. The drainage pump thus described is operated automatically whenever the car body is rolled in either direction the mechanismby which this is accomplished being arranged as followsz-The piston rod JET- is extended upward and provided with rack teeth 14:2 uponeither side which are engaged by segment gears 1 13 attached to levers 144 pivoted to the hollow girder atleo. .lntb the outer margin of the rocker 50 above the pump are inserted removable pins 146 which alternately engage notches 1 17 in projections 14:8 attached to the said levers, \VilGIlGVGl' t e car body is rolled. laterally to dump its load, thus depressing the piston, and when the weight of the car body is again removed, a coiled spring 149 restores the piston to its normal position.

he functions or the various pieces of mechanism having been set forth in connection with the details of construction, a brief description of the operation of the appliance at this point will su'l'licient to give a clear understanding of the scope of the invention. "hen the parts are assembled as shown in the draw s, the cylii'iders 53 and their connectin )l )es iilledwlth oil and the car body I s l l J V on upon the center plates 68, the entire weight of the floating frame and car bodv nill'be upon the plungers 35 and the oil in the system will transmit the pressurr to the pistons 93. "he strength of the tension spring 107 is so proportioned that when the conditions are as above presented the pistons 93 will be pressed downward to their lowest position, shown in Fig. 9, the

resting in an upright p0.

port 98 willbe open and the hydrzuilic pressure evenly distributed throughout the sys tern. T he index 1-15 and tape 125 will both stand at 0, the characters uponthe tape being read through a sight opening 150 in the casing, the latter-being provided with a larger aperture or hand. hole 151, for convenience in adjusting the cord and tape at 1 F of p stons operatively connected with sald their attachments. -The main pistons or plungers WillCl'l support the car body and toad have -a combined area consnlerably larger than that of the pistons" which move the indexes,;so that the movement of the guide block 97 is proportionally'magnified and by this means almost imperceptible movements of the larger pistons will be easily read upon the circular graduaiicns,- making It practicable to construct a scale Supposing that it is required toestimate and convey a given charge to a smelting furnace, the car is moved under the discharge gate of an ore bin, and a specified number of I pounds oi oretalren into the car, the amount being determined by the readings upon the indicator. The car is then rolled toanother bin containing a different grade or quality of ore, or fluxing rock and the required amount taken aboard the car. In'this way the car is moved along until a load. or charge is made up of such mixtures and amounts of ore and -'rock as may be required. The car is then transported to the place of discharge, the bale turned to release the rocker and the bodv rolled off from the floating frame which will immediately rise until the end pieces 66 impinge against the top of the hollow girders the lmpelhng force being the action of thespring 107 which drives the pistons 93 down to their initial position restoring the indicating'devices to their starting points, and opening the port 98, while the pump 130 will automaticallyrestore to the system any oil which may have leaked past the smaller pistons 93. The car body is re'strainedirom beihgcarried too far upon the truck 48 by means of an" anchoring chain 152 secured to the bottom of the body and resting when slack upon a plate 153. As soon as the load' is dumped and the body returns to its upright position, the floating frame will be depressed, and with the indexes againat-O the car is ready for another load. The pump 130 may be operated independently of the car-body movef rnent to force oil into the system of pipes and cylinders the stem 137 being furnished with an eve 137 a for the attachment oi a suitable lever or other operative mechanism.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new, is:

1. in a weighing apparatus, the combination with a frame and a receptacle, of hydraulic cylinders, plungers in the cylinders adapt ed to support the receptacle, and meahs for indicating variations in the position of the v receptacle relative to a fixedhorizontal plane said means-comprising an lndlcator, a series indi atoi', and means for equalizing the pres sure on the pistons.

2. In a weighing apparatus, the combination with a frame, hydraulic cylinders, and plungers in the cylinders, of a second cylinder having a plurality of bores, pistons in said cylinders rigidly connected, an indicator, operative connection between the indicator for equalizing the pressure in the bores.- L 3. In a weighing apparatus, the combination with a frame, a plurality of cylinders, plungers in the cylinders and a floating frame su ported on the plungers, of an indicator, a

cy inder having a plurality of bores, connec tions between each of said bores and one of said cylinders, means for temporarily connecting all of said-bores together, and operative connection between the pistons'and said indlcator.

4. In a weighing apparatus, the combination With a frame, of a plurality of main cylinders, plungers in the cylinders, ,a receptacle supported upon the plungers, an indicator, an indlcator-cylinder and pi es connecting each main cylinder with the indicator cylin-' der and means for equalizing the pressure in said pipes.

5. In a weighing machine, the combination with a frame, of a plurality of main cylinders, plungers in the cylinders, a receptacle supported upon the plungers, an indicatorcylinder having a plurality of bores, pistons in said bores, pipes connectingeach of said bores with one of the main cylinders, a common passage between the said bores, and a Y valve for said passage.

6. In a weighing machine, the combination with a frame, of a plurality of main cylinders, plungers in the cylinders, a receptacle supported upon the plungers, an indicator cylinder having a plurality of bores, pistons in said bores, a rigid connection between the pistons, a spring for the pistons, a common passage between the said bores, a valve for said passage, a pipe connecting each of said bores independently with one of the maincylinders, and an indicator.

7. In a weighing machine, the combination with a frame, of a plurality of main cylinders, plungers in the cylinders, a receptacle supported upon the plungers, an indicatorcylinder provided with a plurality' of bores, pistons iii-the bores, a rigid connection botween the pistons, a spring for the pistons, a

common passage between the bores, a valve l'or said passage, a plurality ol pipes each connecting one of said bores independently with one of the main cylinders, an indicator, and means for forcing liquid into one of said pipes. v

S. In a weighing machine, the combina- ,ceptacle,said system consisting of a plurality of main cylinders, plungers in the cylinder, an indicator cylinder provided with a plural ity of bores, pistons in the bores, a rigid connection between the pistons, a s for the pistons, .a common passage etween the bores, a valve for'said passage, 2 pi e independently connecting each-bore Wit one of the main cylinders, an indicator, and means for restoring to the system any liquid which may leak past the said indicator-cylinder.

9; In a combined Weighing'and dumping apparatus, the combination with a frame, track wheels for the frame, and a rockable receptacle, ofa series of hydraulic cylinders, plungers inthe cylinders, a floating frame supported on the plungers, an indicator-cylinder having a plurality of bores, istons in the bores, a pipe connecting each ore inde pendent-1y with one of the hydraulic cylinders, an indicator, and a pump arranged to force liquid into one of said pipes. v

10. In a combined weighing and dumping apparatus, the combination with a frame, su porting wheels for the frame, and rockable receptacle, of a series of hydraulic cylin ders, plungers in said cylinders, a floating frame carried upon said lungers, an indicator cylinder having a p urahty of bores, a common passage connecting the" bores, a valve for the passage, pistons in the bores, an independent connection between each of said bores and one of said hydraulic cylinders, and means for restoring any leakage of liquid to the cylinders 11. In a combined weighing and dumping apparatus, the comb'ination'with a frame, track wheels sup )orting the frame, and a rockable receptac e, of hydraulic cylinders,

lungers in the cylinders, a floating frame home on the plungers, an indicator-cylinder having a plurality of bores, a common passage between said bores, a valve for the passage, pistons in the bores, a rigid connection between the pistons, a spring arranged to counterbalance the floating frame and a load placed thereon, an independent connection between each of said bores and one of said hydraulic cylinders, and a pum for forcing liquid into one of said independent connections.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALLEN BRADFORD.

Witnesses:

JAMES L. hlONTGOMERY, R..WAYNE Moss. 

